Atomizer for liquids



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ATOMIZER FOR LIQUIDS Filed Jan. 15, 1940 Patented Feb. 22, 1944 .ATOMIZER FOR LIQUIDS Luigi .Mai, Nice... France; vested in the Alien Property Custodian .Application January 15, 1940,'Serial vl\lo.313,84."

France January 18, 1939 valcalina. (crass-9v) Animportant object of the present .invention :isytherprovlsion of yanatomizer for `a `bottle `or other vsuitable container for liquid in whichzthe delicate portions of the mechanism are substantially enclosed within, andprotected by, a sturdy cap which functions as a .pressure member for actuating the moving parts ofthe device.

.Another important; .Objectis the prow'sion of improved ymeans for lockingssaid .cap in position so that the device may not be operated unintentionally.

.Another important object of theinvention is the provision of improved means for more effectively atomizing liquid.

The foregoing, .and other objects Will -be apparent from the following description and from the .accompanying drawing, in which IFigure 1 isa central vertical .sectional view of one embodiment of .an .atomizer according to the present invention.

Eig, 2 is an elevationa1 view of said atomizer, partly. cut away to show in section a cap-locking device, thelatter being in :non-locking position.

Fig. 3 is vsomewhat similar to'Fig. 2, the caplocking devicdhowever, being in locking position.

Fig. 4 .is an elevational view .of the atomizer taken at a right angle to Figs. 2 and 3 and showing an opening in the cap with which the vcaplocking device coacts, the .cap in this view being inraised position.

Fig. 5 is somewhat similar to Fig. 4, the cap, however, being in depressedposition.

Fig. 6 is a central vertical sectional view of another embodiment of `an'atomizer according to the present invention Fig. 7 is a sectional view of an improved atomizing nozzle.

A bottle, jar, or other suitable container, indicated as-A in Fig. 1, may serve -as a holder for liquid to be dispensed and atomized. An atomizer according to the present invention may comprise -a body I preferably substantially circularin horizontal section, the lower portion of which may be formed to provide a stopper 2 which may, either be screwed into, or otherwise suitably held within a neck A Vof the container. A suction tube 3 of suilic'ient length to extend nearly to ythe bottom of theinterior of the container `may terminate at its upper end in a bush ing 3a, which may be screwed into or frictionally held within a cavity 4 inthe body I. vThe bushing may be provided with an vannular shoulder 3b `adapted'tcengage the lower edgeof'the `stopperA Zwhereby to limit the insertion Aof the bushlng into the .cavity 4,- thusvprovidingaspace 4a as a part of the cavity 4 vWithin which fluid may freely circulate.

The body I is also providedwith an ,atomizing chamber e within which certain atomizingmembers are disposed. and a piston cylinder 6 within which a piston l is adapted to work in order to alternately draw liquid by suction into the cavity 4 from the container, and to force said liquid from said cavity into the chamber 9 from which it is expelled to the exterior .of the device in atomized form.

The space 4a is connected `with the piston cylincler Ii `througl'i apassage 6a, and with the chamber 9 through a .passage ila. The opening of the passage 9a into the chamber 4 should preferably be in alignment with ,the suction tube 3, and the lower end of said passage should preferably be enlarged to accommodate a distance piece 9b which `is adapted to limit the displacement of a valve element 5 which coacts as a check valve with the upper .end of the suction tube 3. Y

Another valve element-numbered Il! is adapted to coact as a check valve with the passage ASaat the point where the latter enters the chamber 9. Thel valve element Ill is preferably normally urged into .a closing position with respect to the passage 9a by a compression coil-Spring II, one end of which engages said valve element and the other end of which engages an atomizing element I 2.' The element I2 is disposed within a cylindrical thimble lia which may be screwed into, or frictionaily held within the chamber S. The inner end of the thimble I2a. is open, andtheouter end of said thimble'is at the exterior'of the body Ij and is provided with `a coaxial atomizing nozzle I1, through which atomized liquid may be ldischarged from the device. As best seen in Fig. "l the outer end of the interior of said thimble is formed to provide a conical interior surface 16a, and the outer end of the atomizing element I2 is extended in the form of a cone I4, the side4 of which is of the same inclination as the conical surface Ilia of the thimble. The atomizing element I2 should preferably t snugly within the thimble and is provided with one or more helical channels I3 `formed in the .outside thereof; Thisv channel or channels preferably lextend from lthe inner to the outer end of the atomizing element and open at the outer end thereof into a small;

cone-shaped passage I6, the apex of which opens into the atomizing nozzle Il. The passage I6 is formed by making the base of the cone I4 ofV slightly smaller diameter than the body of the' atomizing element I2 so `:that the..outer end ofv said body rportionmay engage. .the base of the open air.

this arrangement the fluid is delivered in a very fine swirling symmetrical sheet to the orifice I'I,

and the dimensions of the atomizing partsjust described are such that the liquid is in a thoroughly atomized state as it is discharged from'` the device.

The piston 1 is shouldered at the upper end thereof as at la, and a compression coil-spring 8 engages said shoulder and seats within an annular chamber 2l) whi-ch encircles the cylindrical wall forming the piston cylinder 6. By this arrangement the stroke of the piston 1 is not interfered with in any way by the spring 8, so that a relatively long stroke may be imparted to the piston in the operation of the device. A suitable gasket I9 may .be afxed to the lower end of the piston 1 by means of a screw I9ap to provide a close t between the piston and the wall of the piston cylinder 6.

The upward movement of the piston I is limited by a cup-shaped cap I8 within which the body I of the device is proportioned to fit. The fit between these two parts should preferably be such that there will be little play between them, but that the cap may slide freely over said body portion. The cap I8 is provided with an opening Ia which registers with the nozzle I'I and is large enough to so register in any position in which the cap I8 might be moved in the operation of the device so that atomized fluid discharged from the device may pass freely into the It will be understood that the `cap I8 may be-pressed manually so that it will slide downwardly and will carry with it the piston 1 against the compression of the spring 8, and that when the user of the device releases the manual pressure upon the cap I8 the latter and the piston 1 will automatically rise in response to the compression of saidl spring. The movement of the cap I8 relatively to the body I is controlled by a cap-locking device which may be best understood from Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5. This locking device may preferably comprise a plunger 29a having on its outer end a button 29 extending through a slotted opening 26 in the side of the cap I8, thence into a horizontal bore 29h in the body I of the device. Toward the inner end of the plunger 29a the latter is provided with an annular groove 29e into which projects the upper end of a set-screw suitably inserted in the body I. A second annular groove numbered 24 is provided on the plunger 29a. The diameter of the plunger at this second groove is slightly less than the width of the slot 26 in the cap, and the cap is intended to work in this last-mentioned groove when the device is in operation. This last-mentioned groove is defined at its outer end by the base of a frusto-conical portion 21, the base of which is slightly smaller in diameter than the diameter of an enlarged circular hole 28 which communicates directly with the slot 26.

The outer end of the said frustow` conical portion merges into the button 29 hereinf, beforev referred to. 4The plunger .29a isurged out;`

wardly by a compression coil-spring 22, the outer end of which seats against the inner end of said plunger, and the inner end of said spring seats against the inner end of the bore 29h. When the cap-locking device is disposed as shown in Fig. 2, the cap I8 may be moved up and down freely in order to operate the atomizer. However, if it is desired to setthe cap-locking mechanism into the locking position'shown in Fig. 3, the cap I8 is first pressed downwardly as far as itv will go, in which position the frusto-conical portion 2l will be in alignment with the circular hole 28 of the slot 26. Then the button 29 is pressed to movethe plunger 29a inwardly to the position shown in Fig. 3. While the button is held in said position against the compression of rthespring 22 the cap is released, permitting the latter to rise slightly in response to the compressionof the spring 8 so that the edge of the surface of the frusta-conical portion 29 near the base thereof will be locked underneath the'edge of the upper end of the* slot 26, and will -be held in that position by the tension of the spring 8 until released by the user of the device. Y

Assuming now that the cap-locking mechanism is in the position indicated in Fig. 2, the operation of the atomizer is as follows: The container A contains a suitable quantity of liquid to be dispensed and atomized.- The cap I8 is rst pressed down as far as it will go, carrying the piston` 1 with it, thus forcing air from the piston cylinder 6 into the cavity 4, thence through the passage 9a and the atomizing chamber 9, and through the atomizing nozzle II into the open air. vWhile this is taking place, the valve element 5 is held in closed position overthe suction tube 3 by the air pressure within the cavity 4. After the down stroke of the cap I8 is completedit is then released, whereupon the piston 1 and the cap I8 rise in response to the compression of the spring 8. 'As the piston rises, a suction is created in the piston cylinder 6 and alsovin the v'cavity 4. This suction causes the Valve element 5 to rise and draws fluid from the container upwardly through the suction tube 3 into the cavity 4 and the'v piston cylinder 6. After the upstrokes of the piston I and the cap I8 are completed, the cap [8 'is' again pressed downwardly, :causing the piston 'I to force the liquid from the cavity 4 and the piston cylinder 6 throughthe passage 9a intofthe atomizing chamber 9, thence in a swirling motion the liquid passes lthrough the vhelical channels I3 andthe cone-shaped passage. I6, thence through the orifice `I1 and out of the device.. infinely divided or highly atomized form. Upon the cap I8 again being released, it moves with pist'or'l 1 to a raised position, after which the cap and piston mayv berepeatedly moved up and down to continue the dispensing and atomizing of the iiuid from the container.

It will be seen from the-foregoing descriptionI that the cap I8 completely protects all delicatel parts of the device; that because of the disposition of the spring l8 the stroke of the piston 1 is not interfered with by said spring; and that, because of the cone-shaped passagel provided at the outer end of theatomizing chamber 9, a smooth, symmetrical flow of liquid is achieved so that atomiz` ing, thereof is moreeffectively accomplished. l The embodiment shown in Fig- 6 is fundamentally the same as thatA shown in Figs.- 1 to 5, inclusive.v The dispositionL of the parts, however; in the embodiment of Fig. 6 isy such'that the cap is.- operated horizontally ."iustead.. of. vertically.;`

The general contour of this embodiment may, like Fig. 1, be substantially in the form of a cylinder having a vertical axis, but the cylinder may be somewhat higher and smaller in diameter. Under this arrangement the dispensing device may be conveniently held within the hand of the user and may be operated simply by closing. or partly closing the lingers, thus literally squeezing the cap into a sliding movement over the body of the device and imparting the necessary reciprocating movement to the piston T. Because of the somewhat different disposition of parts, the passage 6a is somewhat longer than in the embodiment of Fig. 1, and the distance piece 9b is quite remote from the passage 9a leading to the atomizing chamber 9. Although no cap-locking device is shown in Fig. 6, it is obvious that one may easily be provided in the embodiment illustrated therein.

It should be understood that the embodiments described herein and illustrated in the accompanying drawing are used for illustrative purposes only in describing the present invention, and that the inventive concept may be employed in various ways not necessarily shown herein, without departing from the invention as defined in the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. In an atomizer comprising a body and a spring-pressed cap adapted for sliding reciprocation relatively to said body, means, for locking said body and cap against relative reciprocation, comprising a reciprocating plunger extending from the exterior of said cap, through a slot in the latter and into said body, means for limiting the reciprocating movement of the plunger, and yieldable means normally urging said plunger outwardly, the said slot extending parallel to the line of reciprocating movement of the cap and being enlarged at one end thereof to form an enlarged opening, the said plunger having a frustro-conical portion the base of which is adapted to enter said enlarged opening and to be capable of partly underlying portions of the edges of said opening and slot when said plunger is pressed inwardly and the tapered portion of said frustro-conical portion being of greater diameter than said slot, whereby to prevent substantialrelative reciprocation of the body and cap when said plunger is in such pressed position.

2. An atomizer for liquids, comprising a body member adapted for attachment to a container for liquid, atomizing means carried by said body member and adapted to withdraw liquid from said container and discharge it in atomized form from the atomizer, a manually reciprocable operating member adapted to coact with and operate said atomizing means, and a locking mechanism comprising an adjustable locking element, carried by one of said members and adapted for movement into locking position in engagement with a portion of the other of said members whereby to restrict the reciprocating movement of `said operating member to an extent suicient to prevent material operation of said atomizing means, the said atomizer being further characterized in that the locking element is reciprocable, between the mentioned locking position and a non-locking position, in a direction perpendicular to the line of reciprocation 0f the said operating member; in that the atomizer includes means adapted to yieldably urge said locking element toward its non-locking position and means adapted to yieldably urge said operating member toward one extreme position; in that the said locking element is manually movable to its locking position when the said operating member is in one extreme position; and in that the operating member, in response to the mentioned urging applied thereto, is adapted to engage the locking element when the latter is in locking position and to hold it in said locking position.

LUIGI MAI. 

